Alternate bump metallurgy bars for power and ground routing

ABSTRACT

An apparatus, comprising: a die having a surface, comprising: an array of electrically conductive bumps; and a plurality of electrically conductive bars positioned within the array of electrically conductive bumps.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0002] This invention relates to the field of microchip packaging and in particular to routing power and ground connections between the microchip and the package substrate.

[0003] 2. DISCUSSION OF RELATED ART

[0004] Integrated circuits that use high power levels, need a dense pattern of power and ground lines to deliver the required current and achieve expected performance. As the power requirements for a circuit increase, more of the normal interconnect layers (e.g. M5 and M6 on P860) are needed for routing power and ground and they are less available for routing signals. The need for routing power and ground must be addressed by adding more interconnect layers. FIG. 1A is an illustration of a die surface with a C4 bump pattern containing I/O for signal, power, and ground. Challenges to provide finer pitch bumps between a die and a die package have increased routing and routing complexity at the die surface. FIG. 1B is an illustration of a die surface with ABM bumps connected to ground (Vss) and power (Vdd) lines on the chip. With this design, minimum spacing between bumps is approximately 75 microns, bump diameters approximately 75 microns, with a minimum pitch of 150 microns to efficiently route signal lines.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0005] An apparatus, comprising: a die having a surface, comprising: an array of electrically conductive bumps; and a plurality of electrically conductive bars positioned within the array of electrically conductive bumps.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0006]FIG. 1A is an illustration of a die surface with a C4 bump pattern containing I/O for signal, power, and ground.

[0007]FIG. 1B is an illustration of a die surface with ABM bumps connected to ground (Vss) and power (Vdd) lines on the die.

[0008]FIG. 2A is an illustration of the die with power and ground bars using alternate bump metallurgy.

[0009]FIGS. 2B is an illustration of the die with power and ground bars and an edge ring.

[0010]FIG. 3 is an illustration of ABM bars placed over ground and power lines existing within a metal layer and interconnected with lines passivation openings.

[0011]FIG. 4A is an illustration of the ABM bar connected to the M7 copper layer.

[0012]FIG. 4B is an illustration of the ABM bar connected to the M7 copper layer in a view rotated 90 degrees from that of FIG. 4A.

[0013] FIGS. 5A-5H are illustrations of a method to produce ABM bars on the die.

[0014]FIG. 5A is an illustration of the die containing power and ground lines within a metal layer.

[0015]FIG. 5B is an illustration of the die have a dielectric layer deposited over the metal layer.

[0016]FIG. 5C is an illustration of the die having a passivation layer deposited over the dielectric layer.

[0017]FIG. 5D is an illustration of the die having passivation openings etched through the dielectric layer and the passivation layer.

[0018]FIG. 5E is an illustration of the die having lined passivation openings.

[0019]FIG. 5F is an illustration of the die having a patterned photoresist layer.

[0020]FIG. 5G is an illustration of the die having the patterns filled in with copper.

[0021]FIG. 5H is an illustration of the die with power bars, ground bars, and a bump having alternate bump metallurgy.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

[0022] A structure and method for providing power and ground bars, centered within an array of I/O signal bumps on a die surface is disclosed. In an embodiment, the I/O signal bumps and the power and ground bars could be in the form of copper bumps. The structure and method can provide an efficient means of connecting power and ground between a microchip (die) and a substrate. The structure and method can make use of a bump metallurgy that is different from solder (i.e. alternate bump metallurgy or ABM). As a result, the power and ground structures can be located on the die with the I/O signal bumps (signal bumps), positioned in an ordered array, surrounding. As a further result, the power and ground structures can be fabricated from the same metal layer as the signal bumps. This structure and method allows for the placement of more power and ground lines within the interconnect metal layers since tighter spacing can be used.

[0023] In an embodiment, at assembly, the signal bumps on the die can mate with respective solder lands on a substrate such as a die package. The die package can have a number of solder lands to be in contact with the power and ground bars on the die as well as the signal bumps. Alternatively, the solder lands can cover a large enough area to contact the entire surface of one or more of the power bars and/or ground bars. The power bars and ground bars, and the mating solder lands, may take on any shape from square to a number of linear strips.

[0024] In the following description numerous specific details are set forth such as specific materials, equipment, and processes in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. In other instances, well known computer assembly techniques and machinery have not been set forth in detail in order to minimize obscuring the present invention.

[0025]FIGS. 2A & 2B are illustrations of the die 202 with power and ground bars 204 using alternate bump metallurgy (ABM). In an embodiment as shown in FIG. 2A, the signal bumps 206 are placed in an arrayed pattern having the power and ground bars 204 positioned within. In an alternate embodiment, FIG. 2B, an additional series of bars are placed at the periphery of the signal bumps, i.e. the edge of the wafer. The purpose of the edge bars is to provide an improved seal when the die is attached to a substrate such as plastic packaging. In an embodiment, the power and ground bars 204 can be formed in the shape of rectangles and separated from the top metal by a dielectric and a passivation coating. The power and ground bars can be subsequently coated with a thin layer of a low temperature solder to improve their electrical contact with the mating solder lands or bars on the mating substrate.

[0026]FIG. 3 is an illustration of an area of the die 302 having power 304 and 304′ and ground 303 ABM bars placed over ground 312 and 312′ and power 314 and 314′ lines existing within a metal layer of the die 302 and electrically interconnected with lined passivation openings (in the passivation and dielectric layers) 310 and 310′. The ABM bars 304,304′ and 303 may be approximately 75 microns wide and spaced approximately 75 microns apart on the die 302. The lined passivation openings 310 and 310′ may be formed by an area that is approximately square with each side approximately 5 microns in length. A sufficient number of lined passivation openings 310 and 310′ between the ABM bars 304,304′ and 303 and the metal surface can be formed to interconnect the ABM bars 304, 304′ and 303 to the respective power 314 and 314′ and ground 312 and 312′ lines.

[0027]FIG. 3 further illustrates the finer pitch 308 available when using ABM bars (bars) 304 and 304′ than is available when using bumps (FIG. 1C above) to connect power and ground to circuitry outside the die 302. The ABM bars 304 and 304′ are better for power routing because they can more uniformly distribute power across the die 302. For ABM bumps (FIG. 1B above), the underlying power lines in the last metal layer can only occur under a bump, and bump pitch is limited to approximately 150 um due to process constraints. The power and ground lines can only be spaced every 75 microns. Returning to FIG. 3, with ABM bars 304 and 304′, passivation openings 310 can occur anywhere along the bar 304 and 304′, therefore power and ground lines (Vdd/Vss) 312, 312′, 314, and 314′ can be placed almost as often as desired, such as every 30 microns. Having more power and ground lines 312, 312′, 314, and 314′ that are spaced more closely together improves power delivery by reducing resistive drop and having lower inductance. The result is improved performance.

[0028]FIGS. 4A & 4B illustrate side views of ABM ground bars 402 having interconnections (lined passivation openings) 404 to the M7 layer 406. In an embodiment, the interconnects pass through an Si₃N₄ dielectric layer 408 and a polyimide passivation layer 410. FIGS. 4A & 4B show the ABM ground bar 402 connecting to a copper ground line 410 fabricated from the M7 406 layer while an adjacent ABM power bar 412 is separated from the ground line 410 by the Si₃N₄ 408 and polyimide 410 layers.

[0029] FIGS. 5A-5H illustrate a method for producing the ABM bars on the die. FIG. 5A illustrates a final metal interconnect layer 501 such as M7 (deposited within a patterned dielectric layer) on a die 500 which can include a combination of power lines 502 and 502′ and ground lines 504 and 504′. As shown in FIG. 5B, a layer of a dielectric material 506 such as silicon nitride (Si₃N₄) or silicon carbide SiC is deposited over the surface of the die 500 that includes the etched M7 layer 501. FIG. 5C illustrates the deposit of a passivation layer 508. In an embodiment, the passivation layer may be a material such as a polyimide or silicon dioxide and is blanket deposited by sputtering, spinning, CVD, or rolling to cover the dielectric coating 506. After application of the passivation layer, the surface can be patterned with a photoresist (not shown). FIG. 5D illustrates passivation openings 510 and 510′ in the passivation layer 508 and the dielectric 506 layer, exposing areas of the metal power 502 and 502′, ground lines 504 and 504′ within M7 501. The openings 510 and 510′ may be created by first patterning with a photoresist (not shown) and then etching through the passivation 506 and dielectric 504 layers to expose lines 502, 502′, 504, and 504′ at M7 501. FIG. 5E is an illustration of lined passivation openings 512 and 512′ which are lined with a conductive metal or metal alloy. In an embodiment, the passivation openings 512 and 512′ have a dual layer (not shown) sputter lined with titanium and then copper. FIG. 5F illustrates a patterned photoresist 514 applied over the passivation coating 506. FIG. 5G illustrates the results of an electroplating process to fill-in openings in the photoresist pattern 514 with copper 516. FIG. 5H illustrates a cross-section of the die 500 where the photoresist has been striped away with a solvent and number of ABM bars 518 and 518′ along with a copper signal bump 520 remain that are interconnected to lines 502, 502′, 504, and 504′ within M7 501.

[0030]FIGS. 6A & 6B illustrate a die-substrate assembly 600. An assembly process, such as an embodiment described in FIGS. 5A-5H above, can attach the die 602 to the substrate 604. The substrate 604 can be any mating component to connect the die 602 to outside circuitry, such as a package or printed circuit board where the substrate 604 can contain contacting ground 606 and 606′ and power 608 areas of solder 609 and 609′ to mate with the ground 610 and 610′ and power 612 bar areas on the die 602. The solder 609 and 609′ may be the low temperature solder such as lead tin or silver tin, that is coated over surfaces of copper beneath (not shown). A benefit of having equivalent mating solder areas 609 and 609′ on the substrate 604 to mate with the copper power 610, and 610′ and ground 612 bars on the die 602, is that a rate of heat transfer from the die 602, while the die is performing operations in a computer, can be increased.

[0031] A heating cycle is then performed by placing the die-substrate assembly in a reflow oven that heats the solder until it flows as a liquid. After the reflow operation, the copper bumps are electrically and mechanically connected to the solder lands and the power/ground bars of the die are electrically and mechanically connected to the mating power/ground strips or lands on the substrate.

[0032] During production, a substrate such as plastic packaging or a printed circuit board, that later mates with the die, may be passed through a soldering apparatus where one side is subjected to a soldering operation to solder hundreds of terminals on each of the substrates. The use of wave soldering machines for this purpose is well known. These machines include conveyors that carry the boards over a molten bath of solder that is agitated to rise in waves against the undersides of the boards. Prior to wave soldering, a solder masking operation is required to protect portions of the package substrate from being contacted by the hot molten solder. The solder mask is applied as one or more coatings through well-known techniques such as sputter, spray, or silk-screen such as through a steel screen mesh. When the solder mask is applied with a screen mesh, a pattern in the mesh can provide openings in the solder mask to be later filled with the solder operation. After cure of the solder masking, wave soldering is performed to fill-in the areas open in the mask. The cured solder mask remains on the finished substrate providing good dielectric coverage for the circuit lines to be protected.

Appendix A

[0033] William E. Alford, Reg. No. 37,764; Farzad E. Amini, Reg. No. 42,261; William Thomas Babbitt, Reg. No. 39,591; Carol F. Barry, Reg. . No. 41,600; Jordan Michael Becker, Reg. No. 39,602; Lisa N. Benado, Reg. . No. 39,995; Bradley J. Bereznak, Reg. No. 33,474; Michael A. Bernadicou, Reg. No. 35,934; Roger W. Blakely, Jr., Reg. No. 25,831; R. Alan Burnett, Reg. No. 46,149; Gregory D. Caldwell, Reg. No. 39,926; Thomas M. Coester, Reg. No. 39,637; Donna Jo Coningsby, Reg. No. 41,684; Florin Corie, Reg. . No. 46,244; Mimi Diemmy Dao, Reg. No. 45,628; Dennis M. deGuzman, Reg. No. 41,702; Stephen M. De Klerk, Reg. No. 46,503; Michael Anthony DeSanctis, Reg. No. 39,957; Daniel M. De Vos, Reg. . No. 37,813; Justin M. Dillon, Reg. No. 42,486; Sanjeet Dutta, Reg. No. 46,145; Matthew C. Fagan, Reg. . No. 37,542; Tarek N. Fahmi, Reg. No. 41,402; Thomas S. Ferrill, Reg. No. 42,532; George Fountain, Reg. . No. 37,374; James Y. Go, Reg. No. 40,621; James A. Henry, Reg. No. 41,064; Libby N. Ho, Reg. No. 46,774; Willmore F. Holbrow III, Reg. No. 41,845; Sheryl Sue Holloway, Reg. No. 37,850; George W Hoover II, Reg. No. 32,992; Eric S. Hyman, Reg. No. 30,139; William W. Kidd, Reg. No. 31,772; Sang Hui Kim, Reg. . No. 40,450; Walter T. Kim, Reg. No. 42,731; Eric T. King, Reg. No. 44,188; George Brian Leavell, Reg. . No. 45,436; Kurt P. Leyendecker, Reg. No. 42,799; Gordon R. Lindeen III, Reg. No. 33,192; Jan Carol Little, Reg. No. 41,181; Robert G. Litts, Reg. No. 46,876; Julio Loza, Reg. No. P47,758; Joseph Lutz, Reg. . No. 43,765; Michael J. Mallie, Reg. No. 36,591; Andre L. Marais, Reg. No. P048,095; Paul A. Mendonsa, Reg. No. 42,879; Clive D. Menezes, Reg. No. 45,493; Chun M. Ng, Reg. No. 36,878; Thien T. Nguyen, Reg. No. 43,835; Thinh V. Nguyen, Reg. No. 42,034; Robert B. O'Rourke, Reg. No. 46,972; Daniel E. Ovanezian, Reg. No. 41,236; Kenneth B. Paley, Reg. No. 38,989; Gregg A. Peacock, Reg. No. 45,001; Marina Portnova, Reg. No. 45,750; William F. Ryann, Reg. . 44,313; James H. Salter, Reg. No. 35,668; William W. Schaal, Reg. No. 39,018; James C. Scheller, Reg. No. 31,195; Jeffrey S. Schubert, Reg. . No. 43,098; George Simion, Reg. No. P47,089; Maria McCormack Sobrino, Reg. No. 31,639; Stanley W. Sokoloff, Reg. No. 25,128; Judith A. Szepesi, Reg. No. 39,393; Edwin H. Taylor, Reg. No. 25,129; John F. Travis, Reg. No. 43,203; Joseph A. Twarowski, Reg. No. 42,191; Mark C. Van Ness, Reg. No. 39,865; Tom Van Zandt, Reg. No. 43,219; Brent E. Vecchia, Reg. No. P48,01 1; Lester J. Vincent, Reg. . No. 31,460; Archana B. Vittal, Reg. No. 45,182; Glenn E. Von Tersch, Reg. No. 41,364; John Patrick Ward, Reg. No. 40,216; Mark L. Watson, Reg. No. 46,322; Thomas C. Webster, Reg. No. 46,154; and Norman Zafman, Reg. No. 26,250; my patent attorneys, and Firasat Ali, Reg. No. 45,715; and Raul Martinez, Reg. . No. 46,904, my patent agents, of BLAKELY, SOKOLOFF, TAYLOR & ZAFMAN LLP, with offices located at 12400 Wilshire Boulevard, 7th Floor, Los Angeles, Calif. 90025, telephone (310) 207-3800, and Alan K. Aldous, Reg. No. 31,905; Ben Burge, Reg. No. 42,372; Richard C. Calderwood, Reg. No. 35,468; Paul W. Churilla, Reg. No. P47,495; Jeffrey S. Draeger, Reg. No. 41,000; Cynthia Thomas Faatz, Reg. No. 39,973; John N. Greaves, Reg. No. 40,362; Seth Z. Kalson, Reg. No. 40,670; David J. Kaplan, Reg. . No. 41,105; John Kacvinsky, Reg. No. 40,040; Peter Lam, Reg. No. 44,855; Charles A. Mirho, Reg. . No. 41,199; Paul Nagy, Reg. No. 37,896; Leo V. Novakoski, Reg. No. 37,198; Thomas C. Reynolds, Reg. . No. 32,488; Kenneth M. Seddon, Reg. No. 43,105; Mark Seeley, Reg. No. 32,299; Steven P. Skabrat, Reg. . No. 36,279; Howard A. Skaist, Reg. No. 36,008; Steven C. Stewart, Reg. No. 33,555; Gene I. Su, Reg. . No. 45,140; Calvin E. Wells, Reg. No. P43,256, Raymond J. Werner, Reg. No. 34,752; Robert G. Winkle, Reg. No. 37,474; Sharon Wong, Reg. No. 37,760; Steven D. Yates, Reg. No. 42,242; and Charles K. Young, Reg. No. 39,435; my patent attorneys, and Michael J. Nesheiwat, Reg. No. P47,819, my patent agent of INTEL CORPORATION; and James R. Thein, Reg. No. 31,710, my patent attorney with full power of substitution and revocation, to prosecute this application and to transact all business in the Patent and Trademark Office connected herewith.

Appendix B Title 37, Code of Federal Regulations, Section 1.56 Duty to Disclose Information Material to Patentability

[0034] (a) A patent by its very nature is affected with a public interest. The public interest is best served, and the most effective patent examination occurs when, at the time an application is being examined, the Office is aware of and evaluates the teachings of all information material to patentability. Each individual associated with the filing and prosecution of a patent application has a duty of candor and good faith in dealing with the Office, which includes a duty to disclose to the Office all information known to that individual to be material to patentability as defined in this section. The duty to disclose information exists with respect to each pending claim until the claim is cancelled or withdrawn from consideration, or the application becomes abandoned. Information material to the patentability of a claim that is cancelled or withdrawn from consideration need not be submitted if the information is not material to the patentability of any claim remaining under consideration in the application. There is no duty to submit information which is not material to the patentability of any existing claim. The duty to disclose all information known to be material to patentability is deemed to be satisfied if all information known to be material to patentability of any claim issued in a patent was cited by the Office or submitted to the Office in the manner prescribed by §§1.97(b)-(d) and 1.98. However, no patent will be granted on an application in connection with which fraud on the Office was practiced or attempted or the duty of disclosure was violated through bad faith or intentional misconduct. The Office encourages applicants to carefully examine:

[0035] (1) Prior art cited in search reports of a foreign patent office in a counterpart application, and

[0036] (2) The closest information over which individuals associated with the filing or prosecution of a patent application believe any pending claim patentably defines, to make sure that any material information contained therein is disclosed to the Office.

[0037] (b) Under this section, information is material to patentability when it is not cumulative to information already of record or being made of record in the application, and

[0038] (1) It establishes, by itself or in combination with other information, a prima facie case of unpatentability of a claim; or

[0039] (2) It refutes, or is inconsistent with, a position the applicant takes in:

[0040] (i) Opposing an argument of unpatentability relied on by the Office, or

[0041] (ii) Asserting an argument of patentability.

[0042] A prima facie case of unpatentability is established when the information compels a conclusion that a claim is unpatentable under the preponderance of evidence, burden-of-proof standard, giving each term in the claim its broadest reasonable construction consistent with the specification, and before any consideration is given to evidence which may be submitted in an attempt to establish a contrary conclusion of patentability.

[0043] (c) Individuals associated with the filing or prosecution of a patent application within the meaning of this section are:

[0044] (1) Each inventor named in the application;

[0045] (2) Each attorney or agent who prepares or prosecutes the application;and

[0046] (3) Every other person who is substantively involved in the preparation or prosecution of the application and who is associated with the inventor, with the assignee or with anyone to whom there is an obligation to assign the application.

[0047] (d) Individuals other than the attorney, agent or inventor may comply with this section by disclosing information to the attorney, agent, or inventor.

[0048] (e) In any continuation-in-part application, the duty under this section includes the duty to disclose to the Office all information known to the person to be material to patentability, as defined in paragraph (b) of this section, which became available between the filing date of the prior application and the national or PCT international filing date of the continuation-in-part application. 

We claim:
 1. An apparatus, comprising: a die having a surface, comprising: an array of electrically conductive bumps;and a plurality of electrically conductive bars positioned within the array of electrically conductive bumps.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein at least one of the plurality of electrically conductive bars connects to power.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein at least one of the plurality of electrically conductive bars connects to ground.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein one or more of the plurality of bars form a periphery around the array of electrically conductive bumps.
 5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the bars at the periphery connect to ground.
 6. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the plurality of electrically conductive bars are centered within the electrically conductive bumps.
 7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the electrically conductive bars are copper.
 8. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the electrically conductive bumps are copper.
 9. An assembly, comprising: a die having a plurality of electrically conductive bars; a substrate having a plurality of electrically conductive lands; assembled such that, the plurality of electrically conductive bars on the die contact the plurality of electrically conductive lands on the substrate.
 10. The assembly of claim 9, wherein at least one of the plurality of electrically conductive bars connects to power.
 11. The assembly of claim 9, wherein at least one of the plurality of electrically conductive bars connects to ground.
 12. The assembly of claim 9, wherein one or more of the electrically conductive bars are centered within an array of electrically conductive bumps.
 13. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein a plurality of metal bars are positioned at the periphery of the electrically conductive bumps.
 14. A method, comprising: depositing a dielectric layer over a top metal layer of a die; creating passivation openings between the top metal layer and the top surface of the passivation layer; lining the passivation openings with a conductive material; and depositing a plurality of electrically conductive bars on the top surface of the passivation layer that are in contact with the lined passivation openings.
 15. The method of claim 14, further comprising: depositing a passivation layer onto the dielectric layer.
 16. The method of claim 14, further comprising: connecting at least one of the plurality of electrically conductive bars to ground.
 17. The method of claim 14, further comprising: connecting at least one of the plurality of electrically conductive bars to power.
 18. The method of claim 14, further comprising: placing an array of solder lands on a substrate; and connecting the die to the substrate such that the array of solder lands mate with the plurality of electrically conductive bars on the die.
 19. An apparatus, comprising: means for connecting power from a die to a substrate; means for connecting ground from a die to the substrate; such that, an array of substantially signal connections are positioned around the means for connecting power and the means for connecting ground.
 20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein means for connecting power uses one or more electrically conductive bars.
 21. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein means for connecting ground uses one or more electrically conductive bars.
 22. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein means for connecting ground places one or more of the electrically conductive bars around the periphery of a die edge. 